Robert Heinlein’s The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress explored this concept of the low cost of transporting packages from the lunar surface to earth. Now mind you the “packages” were moon rocks shot by catapult at the Earth in a war of independence, but still a really interesting plot point. Everyone should read this book!
Something that helped me -even if you get diagnosed and get a RX, you have no obligation to take those meds and can stop at any time. At first I was so wary that I was only taking one dose a week. Might be worth a shot, as the improvement to quality of life can be dramatic.
That's a fact! One of the weird things about Adderall at least is that you no longer have any physical needs. You don't get thirsty and that's a good way to end the day with a killer dehydration headache.
I suspect that some of the cardiovascular risk can be minimized by making sure you are not taking a dosage that is too high for you. Your heart should not be racing at all with the right dose.
I don't want to minimize it, but the cardiovascular risks are minimal if you don't have a serious underlining condition. They increase BP a little over what caffeine does and less than Nicotine does.
The lack of cravings is a weird side-effect. I love to eat but when I take my meds I could care less. Especially Desoxyn, it's like Adderall x 100 in the don't care if I eat department. Adderall did have one really weird side effect for me and was the reason I looked into other meds and that is it increased my sexual urges quite a bit. Really to an unhealthy level. I have read that it has that effect on certain people and that it comes from the levo-amphetamines and their targeting the PNS more than the CNS.
I also resisted getting diagnosed as I did not want to rely on "drugs" and I figured that I was just lazy or unmotivated. Eventually my coping methods like drinking tons of coffee just did not help at all and I took the plunge.
It really is an issue of denial. I realized instantly the first time I took Adderall that I should not have waited so long. It is kind of frustrating to look back and realize how many of my issues, especially in school, can be attributed to unmanaged ADD. I wish someone would have advised me to get help 15 years ago, but oh well.
For anyone reading this, I highly encourage getting checked out if you have ADD symptoms and are not depressed (depression can look like ADD). I just want to note that dependence was my main hangup, but it has not been an issue- I regularly go a few days at a time with no meds on weekends or vacations and I don't have any negative symptoms or cravings.
Funny enough those of us with ADD/ADHD don't have a high dependancy profile for stimulants we just don't get the euphoria that others describe from using them. Now I have never abused mine I am sure you can get there if you take enough. It just does not have the same effect on us as it does normal people who already have enough dopamine in their brain.
Funny story, I used to work for a nutritional supplement company and we would pull some all nighters, we where all young and liked what we did. We published a magazine and I was in charge of the web assets as well as the enterprise systems. Anyways, I was done one night and just could not go anymore and the CEO says here take this and I was like, what is it? and he says oh it's Ephedrine so I took it, and finished work at about 11-12 PM went home completely clear headed and started doing projects that I had been putting off for months. This lasted for 8 hours, I was like this is really weird, I have taken Ephedrine before and it never did that. I would get a little clarity but nothing like that. So anyways I go back into work the following Monday and I say to him, dude what did you give me that was not Ephedrine. So he rifles thru his desk and I hear an oh shit, I am so sorry dude. I was like sorry about what, and he said I accidentally grabbed my bottle of Fen-Phen and gave you one of those. Anyways the point of the story is I should have realized then and there that the medicines helps but I was still in denial. Mainly due to my ability to easily hyper-focus so I can be really productive at one thing.
I do this too! I like to write the whole litany against fear out a few times to fill up a page. I find this helps me identify the root of whatever I am currently feeling anxious about. Once you identify the fear, then it can be addressed directly.
